
Title 



Class jL^I/JS? L 
Book JJ^S JB5 



Imprint 



i«*~«rr/»-> 9PO 



Consolido^tion 

of 

Central University and Centre College 

at Danville, Ky., under the Title 

of Central University of 

Kentucky* 




AN ADDRESS 

At a Public Meeting at Richmond, Kentucky on 
April to, t90i. 

By 
L. H. BLANTON. D. D., LL. D.. 

Chatncellor of Centra.1 University. 



i-JOURNAL JOB PHIMTING CO. 



Consolidaction 

of 

Central University and Centre College 

at Danville, Ky., under the Title 

of Central University of 

Kentucky. 




AN ADDRESS 

At a Public Meeting at Richmond, Kentucky on 
April tOr 190 1, 

- > C- By 

LV'hP^L ANTON. \S. D.. LL. D., 

ChaLncellor of Centra.! University. 



1 -o'?'** , 



GiFf 

MRS. WOODROW WILSON 

NOV. 25, 1939 



Mr. Chairman, Fellow Alumni, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 

INTRODUCTORY. 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your courteous invita- 
tion to address the Alumni of Central University, and 
citizens of Madison county on this occasion. A friend 
said to me, yesterday, that he doubted whether I ought 
to be present at this meeting, that there was great excite- 
ment among the people, and indignation because of my 
connection with the plan to remove Central University to 
Danville. "If this be so, then," said I, "so much the 
greater reason for me to go ; but I think you are mistaken, 
a Madison county audience, I know, will give me a patient 
and impartial hearing." 

In the difficult work of the past twenty-one years, I 
have had some sharp experiences, but I have been cheered 
often by the words of Mr. Gladstone on a memorable 
occasion. Referring to a letter written by him to the 
untruths and misrepresentations made regarding him in 
an English journal, the great Premier said: "Calumny 
is rife, everywhere in default of argument, and if I were 
to spend my time in defending my past life, which hajs 
been passed in the face of my countrymen, I would have 
to withdraw from the defense of a great cause, which I 
have at heart. The only way for me to do is to go right 
ahead and do my work. I will not rise every now and 
then and explain and certify that I am not so bad as some 
people say and think, but I will walk straight ahead, and 
let my work speak for itself. It will all come right, by 
and by." 

And the late President Garfield, on the occasion of his 
election to the United States Senate, addressing the Ohio 
legislature, spoke to the same point: "I have tried hard 
to please my constituents who have so honored me in the 
past, but I want to say to you that I have tried harder to 
please myself — to satisfy my own conscience, for I have 
my conscience with me wherever I go." I, too, have 
tried hard to please those who put me in this responsible 
position — the Board of Curators, And I have tried hard 
to please the faculty and students of Central University, 
and the people of Richmond and Madison county, but I 
have tried harder to please myself, and to satisfy my own 
conscience. But, I want to say to you, gentlemen, that I 
have been trained in a philosophy better than Gladstone's 
or Garfield's. A saintly Baptist mother, whose faith was 



that of my noble friend Major Burnam, and an honored 
Presbyterian father— a faithful, honest, loving couple, 
who walked in the right path themselves and taught me 
to walk in it, instilled into me the principles of a sturdy 
Calvinism, and on this immovable foundation I stand to- 
day, believing, with all my heart, that "all things work 
together for good to them that love Grod," and I know 
that when this storm blows over I shall stand vindicated 
Dy every intelligent and honorable man and woman in 
this audience, and of this whole county, who will take the 
pains to ascertain the facts. 

I do not propose to answer public clamor, nor have I 
a word to say to the man who is not responsible for either 
his words or his acts; who was not reasoned into his posi- 
tion, and who can not, therefore, be reasoned out of it. 
But I want to speak to three classes: First, these young 
alumni — intelligent, earnest, active and devoted to their 
alma mater. Second, the men and women who gave their 
money to locate the institution here, and who have stood 
by it for twenty-seven years. Third, the large class who 
may not have given any money nor sent their sons to it, 
yet feel an intelligent interest in it, and want it to re- 
main in Richmond. Prom all these I ask a patient and 
candid hearing. 

THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY. 

In order that you may understand the present situa- 
tion, it will be necessary for me to give you a brief sketch 
of the University from its founding to the present time. 

My connection with the University began August 1, 
1880, nearly twenty-one years ago. I had been for twelve 
years located as a pastor at Paris, Ky. I was living in 
my own house, with an ample salary — comfortable, 
happy and useful in the work to which I had dedicated 
my life. About the first of July, I was summoned, by 
telegram, to Lexington, where the Board of Curators was 
in session. I was informed that I had been elected the 
Chancellor of the University. I replied at once, declin- 
ing the offer, on the ground that I had neither the quali- 
fications nor inclination for such work. I was persuaded, 
however, to consider the matter for two weeks, and I 
finally consented to submit it to the decision of the Pres- 
bytery. It was decided, by one majority, that I should go 
to Richmond. The University at that time was prajctically 
closed. The Rev. Dr. Rutherford Douglas, a sh^rt while 
before had been elected Chancellor, and, after looking 
the field over, declined the office, on the ground that he 



could see no hope of resuscitating the institution, and it 
was turned over to Drs. Logan and Barbour and Prof. 
Wilson, to make what they could out of it. During 
the session of 1879-80 there were in attendance, as near 
as I can estimate, for no catalogue for that year was pub- 
lished, about sixty students in the college proper and 
preparatory, and about an equal number in the Hospital 
College of Medicine at Louisville. There was not a dol- 
lar of invested funds. Mr. Walters owed |7,000 of his 
original subscription, and a few thousands more of un- 
paid notes and subscriptions remained. With the excep- 
tion of the naked campus, the main college building, and 
four professors houses, everything had to be done, which 
was necessary to establish an institution of higher edu- 
cation. Professors had to be employed and money raised 
to pay salaries and meet other necessary expenses; stu- 
dents had to be gathered and organized into classes. It 
was a difficult task from the beginning. The general dis- 
couragement arising from failure and closing the insti- 
tution, the opposition of some influential men, the 
indifference of many others — all these stood in the way, 
and yet the Board of Curators, under the conviction that 
the honor of the Synod was at stake, went forward with 
the w^ork, in the face of every discouragement, and suc- 
ceeded in placing the institution in an enviable position 
in Kentucky and throughout the South. Large sums of 
money have been raised for its endowment, equipment 
and maintenance. There has been an annual attendance 
i>f from one hundred nnd seventy-five to two hundred stu- 
dents in the College of Philosophy, Letters and Science, 
at Richmond. The attendance at the Hospital College of 
Medicine h'as gone up from fifty-eight to three hundred 
and fifty. The Colleges of Dentistry and Law have been 
organized, and three university schools provided for by 
the charter, have been added — all of which, with the ex- 
ception of Middlesborough, are in a most prosperous con- 
dition — ^and the aggregate attendance in all four colleges 
and three schools is this year about one thousand one 
hundred and fifty students. This statement, you say, 
places the affairs of the University in a most prosperous 
light. Why this agitation? But this is not all. There 
is another side to the picture. From the beginning, we 
have had to live from hand to mouth. To build up an en- 
dowment, and, at the same time, meet current expenses, 
was the problem we had to solve. The late Dr. S. B. Mc- 
Pheeters, one of the saintliest and wittiest of men, after 
removing from a plain country charge in Virginia, to the 



Pine Street Presbyterian Church, in St. Louis, said he 
never understood what the prophet, Daniel, meant when 
he said he saw "a time, times and a half-time," until he 
became the pastor of a second rate city church. My 
friends, in the effort to run a second rate college on a sub- 
scription paper, I have seen "a time, times and a half- 
time." 

THE EFFECT OF THE FINANCIAL PANIC. 

The great panic of '93, and on through '96, through 
which the whole country passed, producing universal de- 
pression in business, and the greatest stringency in money 
ever before known, brought the University into serious 
financial embarrassment. 

First. Several corporations, whose bonds we held, 
suspended payment of interest, and so cut down our in- 
come. 

Second. The failure of many lof our friends, whose 
notes we held, who were unable to pay either the interest 
or principal as they fell due. Just before the panic, three 
gentlemen, staunch friends of the University, subscribed 
each 110,000 for the endowment of a professorship. But 
they sustained such heavy losses, aggregating hundreds 
of thousands, and were compelled to withdraw their sub- 
scription of 130,000. Another gentleman who had given 
his note for |10,000, and who had regularly paid the in- 
terest as it fell due, was driven to the wall, and nearly 
the whole amount was lost. Other smaller subscriptions, 
aggregating |10,000, were also lost. In all our loisses 
from the great panic aggregated |50,000. Against this 
no human foresight could provide. 

Third. Another cause of our straightened condition 
was the great reduction of our income from tuition fees. 
From 1880 on to 1890^ there was a steady increase of the 
amount realized from tuitions until the amount went up 
to between |7,000 and |8,000 annually. Then there was 
a gradual decline, until not one-half of that sum was real- 
ized. This alarming result has been brought about by 
the close competition of the colleges for patronage. 
Within a radius of thirty miles, taking Lexington as a 
center, we have the six leading colleges of the state, the 
State College and five denominational colleges. These 
competing institutions have been gradually drawn into a 
most unseemly struggle for patronage, and in this strug- 
gle Central University has been at great disadvantiage in 
several particulars. 



SEVERE COMPETITION. 

First, it is the youngest, by many years, of the Ken- 
tucky colleges, and has, perhaps, a smaller fixed endow- 
ment than any of the others, with the exception of the 
Kentucky Wesleyan, at Winchester. 

Second, the location of the University, with reference 
to the other colleges, placed us at a great disadvantage. It 
stands just on the eastern edge of the Bluegrass Section. 
Within a few miles of Richmond you enter a region en- 
tirely different from Central Kentucky — ^different as to 
soil, production and population — which stretches on to 
the Virginia and Tennessee lines, embracing nearly one- 
third of the state's territory. From this whole region of 
Eastern Kentucky we have never received a dozen stu- 
dent's in twenty-seven years, and it will be many years 
before any considerable patronage can be expected from 
this region. All our students come from central, north- 
ern and western Kentucky, and from the Southwest, and 
they all must run the gauntlet of all the other colleges 
to get to Richmond. They must pass the open doors of 
Georgetown College at Georgetown, Centre College at 
Danville, the State College and Kentucky University at 
Lexington, and the Wesleyan at Winchester, in order to 
reach the University at all, and many a boy has been 
lost on the way to Richmond. 

Third. But there is another and more threatening 
element in this competition of the colleges. The State 
College has grown into wn institution of great significance 
and power. It has an annual income of nearly one hun- 
dred thousand dollars. The policy of the State to give 
aid to this college is now definitely settled, and there will 
be asteady increase of appropriations both from theState 
and general government. But the State College makes 
no charge for tuition, only a small matriculation fee is 
demanded and provision is made for the traveling ex- 
penses of a certain class of students. You can see from 
this statement why there has been such a great reduction 
in our income from tuition. If the State Bank & Trust 
Company of this city should agree to loan money with- 
out charging interest, it would soon become a very pop- 
ular bank. 

Fourth. But Centre College has been our most hurt- 
ful rival. It has a larger fixed endowment than any of 
the denominational colleges, amd has in all respects a bet- 
ter physical equipment, and shares to some extent the 
buildings and endowment of the Danville Theological 
Seminarv. 



8 

This college has a history that no other institution in 
Kentucky or the Southwest has or ever can have. Two 
of its presidents before the division of the church were 
very distinguished men, Drs. John C. Young and Lewis 
W. Green — distinguished not only for scholarship and 
ability to instruct in the class room, but for their elo- 
quence, both in the pulpit and on the platform, and espe- 
cially for their wonderful influence over all classes of 
young men who entered the college. These men gave 
Centre College a prestige that can never be lost. Scat- 
tered all over Kentucky and the Southwest are the 
alumni of this institution. Many of them are the most 
distinguished men of the commonwealth land the country- 
at-large, and they are bound to the college by ties that 
can not be broken. P^ourteen or fifteen years following 
the Civil War, the Southern sympathy of Kentucky was 
at a high tide and there was strong prejudice against the 
college at Danville. The decision of the courts, giving 
both the college and seminary to the Northern side, 
aroused an intense feeling in the Southern Synod. Out 
of this sentiment sprang Central University, and this was 
its opportunity. If at that time the University had been 
amply endowed, a great school might have been built up. 
But times changed. Central University broke down at the 
end of six years and had to be resuscitated. The strong 
Southern sentiment, which gave it birth and sustained 
it for awhile with unparalleled liberality, gradually sub- 
sided. The asperities of the war were smoothed, citizens 
of all sections and classes were brought closer together. 
A spirit of unification began to pervade the whole coun- 
try, church differences were obliterated and Southern 
ministers commenced going over into the Northern 
church. You can readily see how this great change in 
public sentiment would affect both Central University 
and Centre College. No Southern Presbyterian or South- 
ern citizen now hesitates to send his son anywhere, 
whether South, East or West — anywhere that suits his 
inclination or purse. 

Dr. Ormond Beatty was succeeded by Dr. Wm. C. 
Young, as president of the college, a young, active 
and aggressive man. Taking advantage of the subsiding 
of Southern feeling and the prejudice growing out of the 
division of the church in Kentucky, Dr. Young sought in 
every possible way to win back the alienated friends and 
alumni of the college, and, to a great extent, succeeded. 
The election of Hon. J. Proctor Knott as Professor of 
Political Science, and placing him at the head of the law 



department, did mucli to break down the barriers which 
prevented many Southern men from sending their sons to 
Danville. 

THE PRESENT SITUATION. 

As matters now stand, we have in Kentucky two Pres- 
byterian colleges within a stone's throw of each other, 
occupying the same narrow field, a very narrow field, for 
there are great institutions all around us — Vanderbilt 
and the University of Tennessee on the south, the Univer- 
sity of Missouri on the west, the University of Cincinnati 
and numerous state institutions, with large endowments, 
on the north, and Washington and Lee, the University of 
Virginia, and the more powerful universities of Princeton, 
Yale, Harvard on the east, constantly drawing off the 
pick of Kentucky patronage — why the' very men who 
founded Central University, some of them, sent their sons 
to these great institutions. And who can blame them? 
Two Presbyterian colleges in the bluegrass region,, 
occupying the same narrow field, one Southern in 
its ecclesiastical relations, with no very strong 
Southern sentiment behind it — the other Northern 
in its ecclesiastical connection, but with no strong . 
Northern sentiment behind it. ' Centre is old and 
well endow^ed and has many free scholarships at 
its disposal. Can you not see what an unequal struggle 
we are waging? But there is another discouraging feat- 
ure: the great body of the students at Centre College are 
distinctly Southern in their sympathies, and not a few 
identified with the Southern Synod, and, all else being 
equal, would be at Richmond instead of Danville. But 
they are at Danville, and on account of the strong compe- 
tition betw^een the two colleges, the great mass of them 
become hostile to the University, and, to some extent, pre- 
judiced against the church which sustains it. It is not too 
much to say that many of our Southern Presbyterian boys 
go out with their graduating classes, year after year, with 
their love and zeal for their own church greatly abated 
by reason of this unhealthy competition. This may not 
be a matter of interest to the people of Madison county, 
but to the men outside who have given their money so 
freely to maintain the University, it is regarded as a 
most serious and unfortunate complication. 

ANOTHER OBSTACLE. 

Another obstacle: we have failed to get the patronage 
from Madison that we had the right to expect. It may 



10 

have been our fault, but it is a fact. We have tried 
hard to get it. Every year an active canvass has been 
made. Professors Eoberts, Chandler, Sanderson and 
others have scoured the county every year, but the results 
have not been satisfactory. 

I make no complaint of this. It is a part of my philoso- 
phy not to complain about anything. To complain of 
anything you can't help is unnecessary, and to complain 
of anything you can help is unmanly, so I bring no com- 
plaint against the people of Madison. 

It is the right of every man to send his son wherever 
he chooses. I am a free-trader in education, as in every- 
thing else, but I must state the facts. I turn to the cata- 
logue of Central University for 1894, When the aggregate 
attendance was two hundred and ten. Of this number 
sixty-one were in the college and in the preparatory from 
the county of Madison. I turn to my matriculation book 
for the current year, ending in June next, and I find that 
there are forty-three students from Madison county, in 
both the college and preparatory, who pay |1,335 for tui- 
tion. I take the catalogue of Centre College for 1894, 
and it shows that there were in that institution from the 
little county of Boyle — about one-half as large as Madi- 
son — sixty-three students in the college proper and about 
one hundred in the preparatory. If Central University 
had received from Madison county that year the same 
number of students that entered Centre College from 
Boyle, our matriculation would have been over three 
hundred, larger than that of Centre College, and the in- 
stitution would have been self-sustaining. But notwith- 
standing these difficulties and discouragements, the work 
has gone forward, and the results, after twenty-seven 
years, are such as the Presbyterian's of the state need not 
be ashamed. Nearly three hundred young men have 
gone forth as graduates from the College of Arts, and 
many of them have become distinguished in all the pro- 
fessions — ministers, lawyers, physicians, professors in 
colleges, and many others are successful in the various 
avocations of life. Nearly all of them have reflected 
honor on their alma mater, and have rendered honorable 
and useful service to the country. 

The two colleges, with an attendance of one hundred 
and eighteen, in 1880, have developed into a splendid 
system of academic, collegiate, professional and theo- 
logical schools, with an aggregate attendance this year 
of over eleven hundred. 



11 



MADISON COUNTY'S CONTRIBUTION AND ITS GAIN. 

But what about Madison county's contribution of 
|110,000 to secure the location of the University at Rich- 
mond? What has become of that? I have already ex- 
plained that, with the exception of a part of Mr. Walter's 
subscription, and a few thousands of smaller subscriptions 
and notes, the whole had been used in equipment and in 
the maintenance of the institution. And I wish it to be 
distinctly understood that I have no criticism to make on 
the management prior to 1880 — not one word. The men 
then in charge were of distinguished ability, and ren- 
dered splendid service to the cause of education. A 
great panic struck the institution at its very opening, and 
these gentlemen did the very best they could under the 
circumstances. 

In the four graduating classes of 1877-8-9-80, there 
were seven men from Madison, K. R. Burnam, H. L. 
Wallace, Rankin Mason, Jno. Barbour, Dan'l Breck, Tevis 
Cobb and Jerry Sullivan, who are worth more to the 
county to-day than all money given to secure the location 
of the University at Richmond. But let us look at the sub- 
scription of Madison. Here is the original paper turned 
over to the Alumni Association, on the strength of which 
the University was opened here, amounting to |101,345, 
dated September 15, 1873. Of these subscriptions after 
a careful examination of the books, I have not been able 
to find but |6S,000 as being paid. Assuming that there 
are some names that have been omitted or overlooked, it 
will be safe to say that not exceeding |75,000 were paid. 
But from this amount must be deducted |8,260 contrib- 
uted to the permanent endowment fund and formed no 
part of the local fund, although included in the Madison 
county offer. And there must be deducted, also, |24,200 
transferred by certain Madison county subscribers from 
the local fund to the permanent fund in order to make up 
the 1150,000 required by the charter before the Univer- 
sity could be opened. These two amounts aggregate 
132,450, which, taken from the |68,809.23, leaves 136,- 
359.25, or from |75,000 if it is discovered that the county 
paid that amount, |42,550, to be distributed among some 
two hundred subscribers, many of whom are dead, pro- 
vided there is either a legal or moral obligation to pay 
back the money resting on the new corporation. To the 
|fi8,809.23, or the $75,000, as the case may be, must be 
added about |12,000 contributed to the University since 
1880, making in all |87,000 as the total contributions of 



12 

the county. This was a handsome contribution to the cause 
of higher education, from which the county has reaped 
so rich a reward. But, gentlemen, the Presbyterians of 
the state, outside of Madison, have made large contribu- 
tions, and their judgment as to what is best for the great 
cause of education in which they embarked twenty-seven 
years ago is entitled to consideration. They brought, 
when they came, |127,000, then from 1880 on to the pres- 
ent time, first subscriptions of |50,000, then |100,000, then 
about 150,000, of the splendid contributions secured by 
Kev. Dr. McElroy, and some |30,000 later, a total of |357,- 
000. 

The expenses of running the institution for twenty- 
seven years, at |15,000 a year, have aggregated 
1400,000. There has been an average annual attendance 
of students from a distance of from one hundred 
to one hundred and thirty-five. Each man has 
spent on an average of |300 a year, and for 
the average of one hundred young men the whole amount 
is $710,000, making a grand total of |1,467,000 expended 
since the location of the University, in 1874, and from 
sources outside of the county. 

In addition, the University has given annually free 
tuition to about fifteen county boys, amounting to '|750 a 
year, and for twenty-seven years over |18,000. 

Gentlemen, does it not occur to you that the Presbyte- 
rians outside of Madison county, for every dollar brought 
here was contributed by Presbyterians, have some rights 
which ought to be protected? And when they say the 
time has come for uniting their forces for a greater work, 
they deserve, at least, respectful attention. 

CHARGES ANSWERED. 

But before passing on I must stop to answer some of 
the charges and insinuations which have been freely 
made, both before and during the present agitation of 
consolidation. Now, I do not object to criticism. You 
have the right to your opinion of me personally, or of my 
fitness for the position I hold, but no man can attack my 
personal or official Integrity, if I know it, without being 
called to account. 

First. It is charged that the money of the institution 
has been wasted — that Col. Bennett Young, for instance, 
dumped on me a lot of his second mortgage K. & I. Bridge 
bonds, and that the University lost out. In the first 
place I want to say that I have never had a bond transac- 
tion of any kind with Colonel Young. My dealing with 



13 

Colonel Young has been mainly to solicit from him, from 
time to time, subscriptions to the University, and he has 
paid into our treasury, since my connection with the Uni- 
versity, sums which aggregate |5,000. 

I did buy on the market |20,000 of K. & I. Terminal 
Bonds, paying eighty-five or ninety cents. Litigations en- 
sued, and I sold the bonds for seventy-five cents, losing 
from |2,000 to |3,000 on the transaction. But I bought 
Southern bonds below par and they are now worth 1.17. 
And I entered into a private transaction, which did not 
involve the University, and made |2,000, which I turned 
over to the University, and I invested |2,000, with the con- 
sent of the board, in the bonds of the Glyndon Hotel — 
just as Stone Walker, Kit Chenault, John Bennett, W. B. 
Smith and Hon. A. R. Burnam did; but I held these bonds 
until they settled down to their market value and then 
turned them over to the University at seventy-five cents, 
pocketing the loss of |500. 

But, suppose I had lost the whole amount invested in K. 
& I. bonds. Did not my friend. Major Burnam, invest 
largely in one of the banks at Louisville and lose heavily? 
And did not all these splendid Richmond financiers invest 
in mining stocks and railroad construction, stocks, and 
lose all? And did not my friend, Jake Collins, with a 
head full of business sense, invest in corner lots in Pine- 
ville, Beattyville and Irvine? 

The fact is, my friends, that Central University passed 
through the trying times of 1893-6, maintained its credit 
and lost only a few thousand dollars of its invested funds. 
But it did suffer heavy losses in other ways, as I have 
already explained. 

Second. But some one has said that the local man- 
agement has been extravagant. When I heard this I 
wrote to the proper officials in the various colleges, and I 
hold in my hand letters from Professor Fuqua, of Bethel ; 
Dr. Yager, of Georgetown ; Professor White of Kentucky 
University, and I received reliable information as to the 
annual expenditures of Centre College and the State Col- 
leg, and with the exception of Bethel, the expense of run- 
ning Central University has been from |5,000 to |7,000 
less than the amount expended by either Georgetown, 
Kentucky University or Centre College, I need make nio 
comparison with State College, for it has an annual in- 
come of nearly |100,000. 

Fifth. But it has been said that no one knows any- 
thing about the financial condition of the institution — 
that I never make any reports. I hold in my hands two 



14 

certificates, one from the Rev. C. T. Thompson, of the 
Auditing Committee, in which he states that he had aud- 
ited my accounts for the past two years and found them 
correct, and every expenditure sustained by a voucher. 

And here is the certificate of the Rev. Dr. E. M. Green, 
Secretary of the Board of Curators: 

Danville, Ky., April 8, 1901. 

I hereby certify that whenever requested to do so, the 
Chancellor has given the Board of Curators a statement 
of the funds and assets of the University; that such a 
statement was made at the meeting held in Lexington, 
Ky., February 22, 1898, and was spread upon the records, 
pages 201 and 202. A supplementary statement was 
made at the meeting held during the sessions of Synod, 
at Danville, October 18, 1899, and recorded on pages 216 
and 217; and again at the meeting in Richmond, June 12, 
1900, and recorded on page 223. 

I further certify that the accounts of the Chancelloi' 
have been regularly audited and approved by the board. 

Attest: E. M. Green, 

Secretary Board of Curators, Central University. 

Gentlemen, there has not been a day during the past 
twenty-one years that the Board of Curators did not 
know, or could not have known, all that I knew about the 
business of the University, and it is not only unjust to me 
but cruelly so to the honorable, upright and courageous 
men who have stood at the breach and conducted the 
affairs at the institution — some of them since the open- 
ing of the University, twenty-seven years ago^ — such men 
as Drs. T. A. Bracken, G. H. Rout, H. Glass, J. G. Hunter 
and others. 

Fourth, but what about the Lees Institute at Jackson? 
Money given to this University has been spent on that 
mountain college, and other university schools, it is 
claimed. 

The charter, providing for the establishment of those 
schools, states: "That only such funds or property shall 
be used for their support as may be subscribed or donated 
for that purpose." It is sometimes necessary for me to 
use the credit of the University to protect these institu- 
tions. But the cashier of the Richmond National Bank 
knows that the accounts of these schools are kept separ- 
ate from the University accounts, and he knows where 
the money came from to establish and maintain them. 
We have at Jackson, for example, a plant which h3,s cost 



^5 

some 130,000, every dollar of wihich was given for that 
specific purpose, and mainly by friends outside of Ken- 
tucky, whom I was unable to interest in our work here. 
They say: "We won't give to a bluegrass college, but we 
will give to educate the children of the mountain." 

Mrs. N. P. McCorniick established the departments of 
manual training and domestic science, and also the Mc- 
Cormick Chapel, on the north side of the river, and she 
pays the salaries of these teachers and meets all inci- 
dental expenses. At the close of the year Mrs. S. P. 
Lees meets whatever deficit may exist in the academic 
department— varying from |1,200 to |2,000. This I am 
free to say, is, in my judgment, one of the most necessary 
and useful institutions in Kentucky. We have in the 
Lees Institute nearly three hundred and fifty mountain 
boys and girls, and they are the very pick of the moun- 
tains. 

I have gone out of my way, with some sense of humili- 
ation, I confess, to meet these cavils which had found 
lodgment in the minds of some good people who did not 
know the facts, and because when I leave Richmond, this 
beautiful city, of as refined and hospitable people as can 
be found anywhere; where I have spent twenty-one of the 
best years of my life, and to which my whole family is 
sincerely attached, I want to leave also the proof of the 
faithful and honest administration of the affairs of the 
University. 

THE REAL QUESTION. 

I come now to the real question at issue, the matter 
which has so stirred the people of the county and brought 
together this large, intelligent and deeply interested audi- 
ence, the proposed consolidation of Centre College and 
Central University, at Danville, under the name of Cen- 
tral University of Kentucky, and the removal of the Dan- 
ville Theological Seminary to Louisville, and consolidat- 
ing it with the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Sem- 
inary. 

Centre College and the Danville Seminary were 
founded, the former eighty-two years ago, and the latter 
nearly fifty years ago, by the undivided t*resbyterian 
church. The endowments of both institutions came from 
the pockets of all the Presbyterians of Kentucky. Pol- 
lowing the Civil War and the division of the church in 
Kentucky, these splendid endowments went to the North- 
ern side^ but neither party, the party winning and the 
party losing, ever seemed to be satisfied with the result, 



16 

as shown by the five distinct efforts running through fif- 
teen years in order to bring about some sort of co-opera- 
tion in the worl^ of higher education. The two Synods 
for a time had committees of conference on the subject 
which met time and again in Louisville. A few years 
ago the Rev. Dr. Bracken and the Rev. Dr. Waller, pas- 
tors of the Northern and Southern churches in Lebanon, 
invited several gentlemen, representing the two Synods, 
to meet and see if something could not be done. I was 
a member of all these committees, and always claimed 
that we could not consider any but an alternate proposi- 
tion, by which Richmond should make an offer condi- 
tioned upon the removal of Centre College to Richmond, 
and Danville should make a similar offer for the removal 
of Central University to Danville. At one of these con- 
ferences Dr. Witherspoon and myself submitted a writ- 
ten proposition, pledging Madison county to meet all 
losses and expenses of removing Centre College to Rich- 
mond up to 170,000. I had not consulted the people, but 
I knew that I could raise the money in sixty days. The 
Centre College men refused to consider any proposition 
that implied the possible loss of their college. And so 
this alternative proposition for fifteen yea^s blocked the 
way to any solution of this problem. Five years ago, at 
a meeting of the Board of Curators, at Lexington, Judge 
Quincy Ward and Rev. Dr. Bartlett openly advocated a 
plan of co-operation, by which Central University should 
unite with Centre College at Danville, on the best terms 
they could get. I declined to entertain the proposition, 
and tendered my resignation in the event the board deter- 
mined to open the question in the way proposed, and I 
retired from the board until the question was decided. 
The board, by unanimous vote, determined to drop the 
whole question. It may be asked why I took such a 
decided stand at that time, when my position now is the 
reverse. I answer because I did not believe the time had 
come for this move. Neither party was ready for it, and I 
was satisfied that in opening the question in the way pro- 
posed, discension would spring up in the Synod, and the 
friends of Central University divided. And the disinte- 
gration of the University would likely follow. 

RECENT CONFERENCES. 

About the beginning of the year I received, through 
Rev. Dr. Rout, a message from President Roberts, ex- 
pressing a desire to see me and talk over important mat- 



17 

ters common to the two institutions. He invited me to 
go to Danville, or, if I preferred it, he would come to Rich- 
mond. I wrote to Dr. Roberts, declining to do either, but 
said I would gladly talk this matter over with him, pro- 
vided he would meet me in Louisville, where such a meet- 
ing would not attract public attention. We met and had 
a long and pleasant interview and discussed the whole 
question of a co-operative movement. Both institutions 
were found to be suffering from a very un'healthy compe- 
tition, and both felt an inability to cope with the State 
College, with its great income of nearly one hundred 
thousand dollars. It was finally agreed that each should 
select a lawyer, and meet again and discuss the question 
in the light of their opinions as to whether or not there 
were any legal obstructions in the way. Dr. Roberts se- 
lected Judge A. P. Humphrey, and I chose Col. W. C. P. 
Breckinridge, who was connected with all the earily 
movements to establish Central University. After a 
careful examination, the lawyers decided that, so far as 
they could see, there were no legal obstructions. 

At this point I called together the Executive Commit- 
tee of the Board of Curators, and told them what had 
transpired, and asked for instructions. And now, gen- 
tlemen, you must remember that I am the servant of the 
board, their agent and representative, just as Mr. Sulli- 
van is the paid attorney of the L. & N. Railroad. It is 
my duty either to obey their instructions or resign. I 
do not make this statement in order to shelter myself be- 
hind the board, because I heartily concur in their action 
in this matter, but in order that you may understand my 
relation to the controlling body of the University. The 
committee met, and, after discussing the whole matter, 
promptly rescinded the alternative proposition, which 
had stood so long, and instructed me to go forward, maJce 
or receive propositions, and report to the board. 

Colonel Breckinridge and myself did formulate a 
proposition for co-operation, and submitted it to the gen- 
tlemen on the other side, which, after deliberation, was 
accepted by them. In the meantime, owing to the ab- 
sence of Judge Humphrey from the city. Col. T. W. Bul- 
litt and Hon. R. P. Jacobs were called into the confer- 
ence; subsequently the Rev. Dr. Blayney, chairman of the 
Board of Trustees of Centre College, and E. W. C. Hum- 
phrey and the Rev. Drs. Hemphiir, Lyons and Beattie, rep- 
resenting the Louisville Theological Seminary, at the last 
conference, on Monday night following the premature 
publication of the plan in one of the city papers. Other 



18 

gentlemen, Dr. Warren, Dr. Marquess and G. W.^ Welch, 

Esq., were also present. 

CONSOLIDATION PROPOSED AND ADOPTED. 

The lawyers, when they came to look closer into the 
matter, decided that actual consolidation of the institu- 
tions was more direct, safer, and, in every way, more 
satisfactory than the co-operative plan first proposed. 
This plan of consolidation, after full discussion, on the 
part of all present, was unanimouslv adoDted, and it was 
agreed to submit it to the governing boards of the institu- 
tions. These conferences, allow^ me to say, up to this 
point, were purely voluntary. The gentlemen present 
did not assume to have any authority. What they did 
bound no one. As individuals, interested in the welfare 
of the two institutions, they came to the conclusion that a 
co-operative movement of some sort was a necessity, and 
a delay was hurtful to all interests involved. 

The boards were called together and spent a day in 
earnest deliberation, and, by unanimous vote, ratified the 
terms of the agreement. The result was remarkable. 
Here were some twenty or twenty-five representative 
men on one side, and some thirty or thirty-five on the 
other side, all concurring on matters of the greatest in- 
terest and far reaching results. Each man was called 
on, in turn, to give his opinion, and each man said the 
same thing. What does it mean? It means, in a general 
way, that for years past a new spirit had taken hold of 
the people. A spirit of unification has pervaded all sec- 
tions and classes, which found its climax in the achieve- 
ments of Dewey and the Rough Riders on the one side, 
and Fitzhugh Lee and Joseph Wheeler on the other, melt- 
ing and cementing the whole country. It means that 
these divided Presbyterians of Kentucky, after thirty- 
five years, have come to the conclusion that they could 
and ought to unite in the great cause of higher education. 
It is a great movement which has taken hold of the judg- 
ment and conscience of the people, and it can not be ar- 
rested. You can no more stop it, gentlemen, than you 
can stop the flow of the beautiful Kentucky river that 
sweeps am md the borders of your great county. And 
why should we want to stop it? Does it not mean the 
building up of a great institution, greater than any Ken- 
tucky has ever had? Does it not mean better education 
to the boys of Kentucky, and will it not carry with it 
great blessings, both to the commonwealth and to the 
Church? 



19 



LOCAL INTERESTS. 



But what is the proposition to Madison county? 
First, that whatever be the legal or moral obligations to 
the subscribers to the local fund, they shall be faithfully 
met by the new corporation. If it is decided that these 
subscribers are entitled to a part or the whole of their 
subscriptions, every dollar shall be paid. It further pro- 
vides that the four buildings, the main college building, 
Memorial Hall, the preparatory, and Y. M. C. A. building, 
and new gymnasium, the erection of which cost nearly 
$75,000, with all the unimproved part of the campus, 
some twenty or thirty acres, shall be dedicated to a Col- 
legiate Institute, in which thorough instructions shall be 
given, preparing students for the junior class of the new 
Central University. And, further, that 15 per cent of all 
money subscribed to the new institution shall be set aside 
as the basis of an endowment until |40,000 additionial 
shall have been secured. 

Now, let us see what Madison county will lose by the 
consolidation. First, it will lose the College of Philoso- 
phy, Letters and Science, which, in the face of many diffi- 
culties and discouragements, has rendered the county 
good service in the education of sixty of your young men 
who hold diplomas of the University, and more than one 
thousand others, who have received partial training with- 
in its walls. 

Second, it will lose, probably for a time, a part of the 
large annual income, which has been yours for twenty- 
seven years. 

LOCAL GAINS. 

What will it gain? A model university school, which 
will give your boys a better training for college than they 
have ever had. In which, also, they may be trained, if 
our plans do not miscarry, in all the practical arts, and 
so fitted for business. This school, if encouraged and 
supported by Madison county, will, I believe, bring to 
Richmond as many students as are now here. Yes, such 
a school, with handsome buildings and fine equipments, 
with four good professors, with an assured endowment of 
$50,000, and two Synods behind it, I do not hesitate to 
say, will, in the end, be worth more to Madison county 
than the college, straightened financially as it is and 
meeting on all sides fiercest competition in the field of col- 
legiate education. In other words, I believe there is a 
wider field and more demand for an institution of this 
class than there is for a college with an insufficient en- 
dowment. 



20 

If, my friends, the college of to-day meant the same 
thing that it did twenty-one years ago, when I came to 
Richmond, the problem would be different. But it is not. 
Conditions have changed. In this marvelous age of 
progress and expansion, the college also has expanded. 
The college of to-day means large endowment, handsome 
equipments, great libraries, strong faculties and ade- 
quate salaries, and the Presbyterians of Kentucky — there 
are only 23,000 of them — are not equal to the demands of 
the situation. Four times they have responded freely 
and generously to our calls for help, but they say now that 
they are not able to keep up the struggle, and their an- 
swer is made plain by their response to Rev. J. W. Tyler, 
an active, earnest and vigorous young minister, who has 
labored now for more than one year in this canvass for 
funds, with unsatisfactory results. 

CONCLUSION. 

My friends, the time is near when I will leave Rich- 
mond, whatever be the issue as to this plan of consolida- 
tion. What my future will be, I do not know. But I am 
not anxious about it. God has always opened the way 
for me to useful employment. If it is best, I am willing 
again to enter the pulpit, and will gladly minister to the 
humblest church in which it may be my lot to serve. In 
leaving, let me say, that I bear no ill will to a human being 
in Madison county. On the contrary, I will carry away 
with me a grateful recollection of many noble and gen- 
erous people, who have encouraged me in all my work, 
and I will remember to my last breath the noble man 
Whose large donation made possible the location of the 
University in Richmond, and whose subsequent gifts 
caused it to be reopened when it had been iDrac tic ally 
closed, and who stood by me in all my difficult taskf? — 
your most enlightened and enterprising citizen, your 
most generous patron of higher education, and my stead- 
fast friend — Singleton P. Walters. I trust that the insti- 
tute, which will bear his name, when opened, fostered by 
two Synods and sustained _ by the people of Madison 
county, will be a fit memorial of this good man, who has 
gone to his reward, and will prove a great blessing to all 
the people. I believe that if he were here to-day, his 
quick intellect and generous heart, looking beyond the 
limits of Madison county lines, and seeing the great good 
that w^ould come, both to the commonwealth and the 
church he loved so well, would approve the action of the 
board and en'd'orse this great movement. 




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